Russia Backs Ban Ki-moon for 2nd U.N. Term

Russia on Thursday became the last permanent member of the Security Council to support U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's re-election, saying it would back his candidacy in a vote due later in the day.

"We are ready to support the candidacy of the esteemed Ban Ki-moon for a second term as U.N. Secretary General at Thursday's upcoming vote," Interfax quoted foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying.

The 66-year-old former South Korean foreign minister has already received backing from the European Union, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile as well as U.N. Security Council members United States, China, France and Britain.

The full U.N. General Assembly is expected to hold a formal vote before the end of June.

It was not immediately clear why Russia refused to make its announcement on Ban's candidacy until the last moment, with the spokesman saying little about the vote.

Lukashevich added only that "this is the position we will take during the discussion."

Russia and China have used the U.N. Security Council to defend their interests in Africa and the Middle East, where they often oppose the positions of the United States and other Western powers.

Moscow's threat to veto a U.N. resolution on Iraq forced the United States to find the support of a broader coalition partners before moving to oust Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

Russia also abstained from a U.N. vote that authorized the use of force in Libya in March.

Moscow has since threatened to veto a resolution calling for the use of force against Syria, a position it appeared to reaffirm in a joint statement issued with the visiting president of China on Thursday.